I think the best thing for everyone involved in that horror show at Providence Park Wednesday night would be to sit down in a corner and think. I suggest a lot of thinking.
I suggest that Moises Hernandez and Blas Perez think about why stomping people, or appear to stomp people, or making stomping motions towards people is unacceptable. I’m thinking Fabian Castillo needs some to think about why charging officials isn’t a good idea either.
Oscar Pareja should think about his team’s meltdown, and his hapless assistant coach should think about why throwing a punch at a fan isn’t part of the seminar when you get your coaching badges.
Dallas were thuggish. But the Timbers don’t get off the hook.
Raushawn McKenzie can think about how fun it was to start for the home team at Providence Park, because he’s never going to do it again. The entire Timbers defense needs this long, World Cup-induced timeout.
In the end, Gaston Fernandez disgraced himself like no one else. His penalty spat with Will Johnson was disgusting. It was selfish, it was petty, and it was embarrassing.
Everyone knows who takes the penalties in Portland. It’s the guy with the armband – who, by the way, has never missed one for the Timbers. Did Fernandez think no one would notice it he grabbed the ball and took the kick? Like Johnson was going to back down from this fight.
It wasn’t just that there was a spat – it happens from the time to time, even if it shouldn’t. This was a drawn-out fight. Should Johnson have left it alone and dealt with Fernandez afterward? Maybe. Maybe not. But the saga tainted the Timbers late show.
Caleb Porter would have lost his mind had he seen the incident, but he was oblivious. The manager, who, shockingly enough, was the calmest guy on the pitch this night, was conferencing with his wayward defense. Normally, you’d consider that a good use of time. He couldn’t have predicted that a couple team leaders would transform themselves into ten-year olds at a crucial moment.
Poor Fanendo Adi, who gave everything he had, pled with his teammates to settle their differences.
Everyone will calm down and make up, but it was an undeniably shocking episode. Maybe that, or the first half performance, or the lack of novelty, or a combination of all three, was why there was little joy in the Timbers fight-back.
It’s just not that cute when an infighting team capitulates once again capitulates in the first half, and thanks in large part to an opposition meltdown, grabs a 94th minute equalizer against nine men.
The Timbers are stuck on one home win and no home clean sheets. Their home games might keep getting more and more dramatic. But it’s time for the drama to end and the complete, 90 minute performances to start.
What did Caleb Porter expect? If you start a Mickey Mouse defense, you’re going to get Mickey Mouse defense.
Portland’s back four was too slow, too disorganized, and not good enough. McKenzie was worked all night. Kah too.
The tonnage of quality center-backs Portland has discarded in the last year is sickening. Mikael Silvestre, for starters – cutting him is one of the worst personnel moves of the Timbers’ MLS era. Of course, guys like Andrew Jean-Baptiste, David Horst, and Futty Danso aren’t great. But it goes without saying that they’d be an upgrade over what the Timbers have now.
I know: Liam Ridgewell will be in the starting lineup the next time Portland plays an MLS game. But it never should have come to that.
That’s the story of the Timbers’ season, really. It never should have come to that.
On this night, the action started early and the action didn’t stop. Dallas had a remarkable sequence of shots before the game was five minutes old, while a close offside call on Will Johnson canceled out a Timbers opener.
Just before the half-hour mark, a Blas Perez chip found Castillo bursting through the middle, and his collection and finish were sublime. Dallas had two when Perez scored just before halftime, with McKenzie again caught out.
Portland’s defensive problems weren’t just the back-line. Diego Chara didn’t look good in this game, but he was consistently exposed by an out-of-position Will Johnson, who looked like he wanted to be playing forward. Johnson, for all his great qualities, is positionally irresponsible, and it hurts the Timbers.
You know the rest of the story. Dallas went into a defensive shell and tightened up. The Timbers gradually took total control of the game. They pulled one back. They got the equalizer at the death.
It wasn’t a good performance. It wasn’t a moral victory. As far as morals are concerned, no one won in this game.
It was unnerving to see Darlington Nagbe struggle against a team he has owned over the last two years. Nagbe’s confidence was dimmed after two early chances went begging. It was perhaps his least effective performance of the year.
Steve Zakuani, though slightly improved, continues to underwhelm. Not a lot came easy for Adi, but he battled all game long. The craziness of the game could only be summed up in that Kah scored the game-tying goal. It was his first in MLS, and I’ll be damned if he didn’t lineup on the center-circle for the kickoff like a sprinter preparing for the 100-meter dash at the Olympic games.
It was that kind of night. It was the kind of night that no one feels good about going away.
For Dallas, it was an implosion. They threw away a game they should have had. For the Timbers, it was fool me once with this late comeback thing, or fool me four times, but this one was a bridge too far.
How the Timbers can be so calm and efficient on the road and so erratic at home is baffling. Providence Park has been batty this year.
Also, chew on this: The referees got a standing ovation as they left the field. When does that ever happen?
This one is going to take a while to digest. Now, let’s go watch the World Cup.
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